🔗 Share this article

You have heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to get slim, you feel it is time to try them out ahead of the festive season. The problem is expense.

But it seems there are other options rather than getting a prescription and going to the chemist. A text message comes through providing a URL to a website with more affordable medication – and with no need to navigate proper procedures. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media the other day, so you decide to go for it.

The problem is these ads are highly likely to be scams. At best, you will be sent no product and forfeit whatever money you spent. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.

The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices established to simply take people’s money.

Medical regulators have warned against purchasing such unlawful slimming medications absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they could contain “toxins and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.

New figures from a high street bank show a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through scams related to slimming jabs, pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September , was over twice the total sum stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, it says.

“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.

How It Appears

Most take place on communication platforms and social networks. On socials, a profile may mimic the company that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in text or brand marks.

These communications or posts will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.

With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, has increased of late, the scammers will price their “product” more cheaply.

“Purchasing from unverified sellers online can entail a significant financial, medical and psychological toll,” warns the security specialist.

Recommended Actions

As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.

Medical authorities have warned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose serious risks to health.

Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm this is correctly licensed.